Terms of Service

What Saltgrain is

Saltgrain is an iOS app that helps you make sense of short-form videos. When you share a TikTok, Instagram Reel, or YouTube Short, Saltgrain uses artificial intelligence to do three things: (1) verify factual claims in the video, to the extent the claims are verifiable and to the extent any AI can; (2) surface ideas, context, and threads in the video that are worth exploring further; and (3) point you toward web sources so you can learn more on your own.

The output we send back — whether a verdict in verify mode or an exploration prompt in explore mode — is referred to throughout these Terms as a "read." Reads are generated by language and multimodal models, grounded in web search results, and produced without human editorial review. They are not a substitute for primary research, expert opinion, journalism, or professional advice.

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") form a legally binding agreement between you and the operator of Saltgrain. By installing or using Saltgrain, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use Saltgrain.

Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use Saltgrain. If you are between 13 and the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction (typically 18), you must have a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms on your behalf. By using Saltgrain, you represent that you meet these requirements.

Saltgrain is currently distributed through the U.S. App Store. If you access it from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local law.

Reads are AI impressions, not declarations of fact

When Saltgrain produces a read on a video — whether a verify-mode verdict on factual claims, an explore-mode prompt that surfaces context, or a chat reply that helps you learn more — that output is the AI's probabilistic interpretation of the content based on the audio, frames, captions, and web search results available at the time. It is not a determination by a human editor, journalist, lawyer, doctor, or expert. It is not reviewed before delivery.

Reads are characterizations, impressions, invitations to look further, and AI-generated context — they are not statements of fact about any person depicted in the video. Verify-mode labels like "Off," "Stretched," "Mostly right," or "Holds up," explore-mode framings like "Worth a look," and any sources, follow-up questions, or learning prompts described in chat are the AI's read of the content; they are not factual rulings on the credibility, character, or truthfulness of any individual.

You acknowledge and agree that AI systems are probabilistic, can produce inaccurate or contested outputs, and may reflect biases in their training data. A reasonable user receiving a Saltgrain read understands they are receiving an AI-generated impression and an invitation to learn more on their own — not a human-authored fact-check, news article, or expert opinion.

AI accuracy disclaimer

Saltgrain reads — verify-mode verdicts, explore-mode prompts, chat replies, and any other AI-generated output — are exactly that: AI-generated. Even when calibrated, source-grounded, and accompanied by sources, they can be wrong, incomplete, biased, or out of date. The underlying providers (Google Vertex AI Gemini, Anthropic Claude, Brave Search, and others) acknowledge this in their own terms.

Do not rely on Saltgrain for medical, legal, financial, safety-critical, or otherwise consequential decisions. Do not rely on Saltgrain as your sole source of truth for any factual question. The sources Saltgrain links to are starting points for your own learning, not authoritative final answers — you are encouraged to read them yourself, weigh them against other sources, and reach your own conclusions. If you need an authoritative answer, consult primary sources or a qualified human professional.

You assume sole responsibility for any decision you make based on a Saltgrain read and for any consequences of that decision.

Acceptable use

You may use Saltgrain only in ways that are lawful, respectful, and consistent with these Terms. Specifically, you may not:

• Use Saltgrain on videos you do not have legal access to view.
• Use Saltgrain's verdicts to harass, defame, doxx, threaten, or otherwise harm any individual depicted in a video, including by republishing verdicts in misleading or inflammatory contexts.
• Generate content that targets specific persons with claims you know or should know are false.
• Bypass or attempt to bypass the terms of service of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or any other platform whose content you submit through Saltgrain.
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, scrape, or attempt to extract the underlying models, prompts, or system architecture of Saltgrain.
• Submit excessive volume from a single device (we enforce per-device daily caps), use automation, or otherwise abuse the service.
• Use Saltgrain in any way that violates applicable law or third-party rights.

We may rate-limit, suspend, or terminate any user, at any time, with or without notice, for any reason — including suspected violation of these rules.

Your content

You retain whatever rights you have in any URL, video, or text you submit to Saltgrain ("your content"). By submitting your content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to fetch, process, transmit, store, and analyze that content for the purpose of operating Saltgrain — including by sending it to the third-party AI and search providers described in our Privacy Policy.

You represent and warrant that you have the legal right to submit your content to Saltgrain, and that doing so does not violate any third party's rights or any applicable law.

Intellectual property

Saltgrain — including the app, the brand, the design, the codebase, and any original output we generate — is owned by us. These Terms do not grant you any right to use the Saltgrain name, logo, or design beyond ordinary in-app use of the product.

Reads and other AI-generated outputs you receive through Saltgrain are licensed to you for personal, non-commercial use. You may not republish AI outputs in ways that would mislead a reasonable reader into believing the output is a human-authored fact-check, a news article, an editorial determination, or an authoritative source.

If you believe content surfaced through Saltgrain infringes your copyright, send a DMCA-style notice to nqgern411@gmail.com with: identification of the copyrighted work, identification of the allegedly infringing material and where it appears in the app, your contact information, a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized, and a statement under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate and you are authorized to act. We will review and respond.

No accounts, no payment in this version

The current version of Saltgrain has no user accounts and no paid features. There is nothing to log into and nothing to pay for. We may add accounts, paid subscriptions, or other features in future versions; if we do, those features will be governed by additional terms presented to you at the time, and we won't bill you for anything without explicit consent.

Service availability

We make Saltgrain available on a best-effort basis. We do not promise uptime, latency, response time, or any specific level of service quality. Verdict generation depends on multiple third-party services (video ingestion, AI providers, web search) that occasionally throttle, fail, or change their behavior. When that happens, the app is designed to fail gracefully — when we cannot read a video, we tell you.

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature of Saltgrain at any time, in whole or in part, with or without notice. We are not liable to you for any modification, suspension, or discontinuation of the service.

Termination

You may stop using Saltgrain at any time by deleting the app from your device. We may terminate or suspend your access to Saltgrain at any time, for any reason, with or without notice, including for suspected violation of these Terms or to protect the integrity or security of the service.

Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including the Disclaimer of Warranties, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Dispute Resolution, Governing Law, and any provisions about ownership) survive termination.

Disclaimer of warranties

SALTGRAIN IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, RELIABILITY, AND QUIET ENJOYMENT.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT SALTGRAIN WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE; THAT VERDICTS WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR FREE OF BIAS; OR THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM SALTGRAIN CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of certain warranties. To the extent the law of your jurisdiction prohibits a disclaimer above, that disclaimer is limited to the minimum extent permitted, and the rest of these Terms remains in effect.

Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER WE NOR OUR AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OR LICENSORS WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES — INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, REPUTATION, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES — ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF SALTGRAIN, ANY VERDICT OR OTHER OUTPUT, OR THESE TERMS, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH SALTGRAIN OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100) AND (B) THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE LIABILITY.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. To the extent the law of your jurisdiction prohibits such exclusions or limitations, our liability is limited to the minimum extent permitted by that law, and the rest of these Terms remains in effect.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless us and our affiliates, officers, employees, agents, and licensors from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs) arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your use or misuse of Saltgrain; (b) any content you submit; (c) your violation of these Terms; or (d) your violation of any rights of any third party, including any intellectual-property, privacy, or publicity rights.

We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which case you agree to cooperate with our defense.

Dispute resolution, arbitration, and class action waiver

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights, including your right to file a lawsuit in court.

Informal resolution first. Before filing any formal claim, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally. Send a written notice describing the dispute to nqgern411@gmail.com. We will try to resolve the dispute informally within 30 days of receiving your notice. You and we agree not to bring formal proceedings until that 30-day period has passed.

Binding individual arbitration. If informal resolution fails, you and we agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of Saltgrain — except as expressly carved out below — will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect. The arbitration will be conducted by a single arbitrator, in English, in or near Charlottesville, Virginia, or by telephone or video conference at the parties' option. Judgment on the arbitrator's award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this arbitration agreement.

Class action waiver. You and we agree that any dispute will be resolved only on an individual basis. Neither party may bring a claim as a plaintiff or class member in a class, collective, consolidated, mass, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of representative proceeding.

Carve-outs. Either party may bring a small-claims-court action for any qualifying dispute. Either party may also seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to protect its intellectual-property rights pending the outcome of arbitration.

Severability of this section. If the class action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim or remedy, that claim or remedy must be litigated in court (severed from the rest of this section), but the remainder of the arbitration agreement still applies. If the entire arbitration agreement is found unenforceable, disputes will be resolved in the courts identified in the Governing Law and Venue section.

30-day opt-out. You can opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing nqgern411@gmail.com with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out" within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. If you opt out, neither you nor we will be required to arbitrate disputes; both parties will instead use the courts identified below.

Governing law and venue

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or to Saltgrain are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States of America, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the arbitration agreement above.

For any dispute that is not subject to arbitration (because of an opt-out, a small-claims carve-out, or a finding of unenforceability), you and we agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Charlottesville, Virginia, and waive any objection to that jurisdiction or venue based on forum non conveniens or otherwise.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. For material changes, we will notify you in the app and, where required by law, obtain your consent before the change takes effect. Continued use of Saltgrain after a change becomes effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found by a court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible (or, if necessary, severed), and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Entire agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any additional terms presented to you in connection with specific features (for example, future paid subscription terms), constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to Saltgrain and supersede any prior or contemporaneous communications, understandings, or agreements, whether oral or written.

Assignment

You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms freely, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or by operation of law.

No waiver

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms is not a waiver of that right or provision. Any waiver must be in writing and signed by us to be effective.

Apple-specific terms

Saltgrain is distributed through the Apple App Store. As a result, the following also apply: (a) these Terms are between you and us, not between you and Apple; (b) Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for Saltgrain; (c) if Saltgrain fails to conform to any applicable warranty (and we have not effectively disclaimed all warranties), you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price (if any), but Apple has no other warranty obligation; (d) any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses attributable to Saltgrain are our responsibility, not Apple's; (e) Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims you have relating to Saltgrain (including product liability, legal-compliance, or consumer-protection claims); (f) if a third party claims Saltgrain infringes its intellectual-property rights, we, not Apple, will be solely responsible for the investigation and defense; (g) you represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo or designated by the U.S. government as a "terrorist supporting" country, and are not on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties; and (h) Apple and Apple's subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

Contact and notices

For questions about these Terms, to give us notice (including for arbitration), to report a violation, or to send a DMCA-style copyright notice, email nqgern411@gmail.com. We may give you notices through the app, by push notification, or by any other means we reasonably believe will reach you.